Travel
The Last Great European Road Trip: From Trieste to Kotor Without the Highway
There was a time when journeys were longer than the destinations themselves. People were not obsessed with arriving as quickly as possible. They did not track arrival times on navigation apps or calculate how many minutes they could save by taking a bypass. The road was part of the experience. Every town along the way had meaning, every coffee stop had a purpose, and every pause came with its own story.
Cefalù: The Place Where Sicily Still Feels Real
Cefalù, a small town on the northern coast of Sicily with around 14,000 residents, lies about seventy kilometers from Palermo and is one of the best-known destinations on this part of the island. During the summer, the number of people in town increases due to tourism, yet Cefalù still manages to preserve the atmosphere of a small Mediterranean town.
Tbilisi: The Most Underrated Capital Between Europe and Asia
Carpets hang from the terraces of old houses, drying in the sun. Beneath them pass black Mercedes sedans from the 1990s, hipsters carrying analog cameras and women holding freshly baked bread still wrapped in paper from the oven. Somewhere, electronic music drifts up from a basement bar, while only a few streets away, old men play backgammon outside a small shop. Tbilisi does not feel like a city carefully designed to impress tourists. And that is exactly why it does.
Dubrovnik Through the Eyes of a Local: A City That Isn’t Seen, but Lived
Dubrovnik is often described as the pearl of the Adriatic, but for those who live there, it is far more than a tourist postcard. It is a way of life, a rhythm that refuses to rush, and a daily routine built around one simple philosophy - pomalo.
Rio: A City Dreamed of for a Lifetime
Robert Dacešin, a travel writer from Banja Luka who has explored more than half the world, told HEDONIST magazine that he had always had only one dream: to reach Brazil and spend a night in Rio de Janeiro. He wandered through train stations, slept on buses, and finally arrived at the place he had dreamed about for more than two decades, Copacabana Beach.
Komodo: The Islands Where Dragons Still Roam
There are places in the world that feel as though they do not belong to this era. The Komodo Islands in Indonesia are exactly that kind of place - wild, raw, and almost surreal. They are home to a creature that looks as if it survived from the age of dinosaurs: the legendary Komodo dragon.
Five Shores That Make People Travel Across Half the Planet
There are places in the world that people do not visit merely for a vacation. They travel to them for a feeling. For an image once seen on a screen, for a photograph that seemed unreal, or for that quiet desire to stand, at least once in life, before a landscape that feels detached from everyday reality.
Vrbas: A River That Shapes Landscapes and the Rhythm of Life
If there is a river that can change its character several times within just a few hours, more than some cities do in a century, it is the Vrbas. Fast, wild, quiet, then gentle again - all within a single flow. It begins as a mountain stream carving through rock, and ends as a calm river nourishing the plains. Between those two points, the Vrbas draws landscapes that stay with you.
Palermo: Raw, Loud and Irresistible
Wild yet seductive; untidy yet lavish; rough yet warm; raw yet full of charm; old yet relentlessly alive - this is Palermo. If you arrive in Sicily’s largest city expecting the polished elegance of Milan, you will get raw aesthetics instead. If you’re looking for the romantic backdrop of Venice, you’ll find a loud, unfiltered reality. And if you seek the monumental stage of Rome, you’ll get chaos that directs its own scene.
Tokoname: The Black City That Taught Fire to Speak
At first glance, Tokoname doesn’t seem like a destination that wins you over instantly. There are no spectacular skyscrapers, no restless metropolitan rhythm, nor the tourist buzz that follows Japan’s more famous cities. But it has something else - an atmosphere that doesn’t reveal itself immediately, but unfolds slowly, like a glow beneath a layer of ash.
Sutjeska: Raw, Wondrous, Wild
Sutjeska National Park is the oldest and largest national park in Bosnia and Herzegovina, home to one of the last primeval forests in Europe, a place of adventure, and a natural gem of Republika Srpska. The highest peak, Maglić (2,386 m), is also located within the park, making it the highest point in the country.
Una: The One and Only – A River Made for Enjoyment
More than 2,000 years ago, according to legend, a weary Roman soldier, after countless battles, came upon an emerald river and, struck by its beauty, exclaimed: “Una!” One, the only one, the most beautiful among rivers. To this day, the Una carries that unique name.
Robert Dacešin: How I Got “Stuck” in Cuba
Robert Dacešin, a travel writer from Banja Luka who has explored more than half the world, barely made it back home in 2020. Just as he stepped onto Cuban beaches, the coronavirus began spreading globally. His return to Banja Luka suddenly became almost impossible.
Springfield: Where Basketball Became the World’s Game
It seems that every American state has a town called Springfield. I haven’t been to the others, but this one in Massachusetts doesn’t impress at first glance. It has no metropolitan skyline, no monumental boulevards, and a wide highway somehow splits the city in two.
From Banja Luka to Half the World: How Robert Dacešin’s Story Began
“If you survived Brazil, you’ll survive Chile.” That’s what they told me. And in Santiago, my bag, which contained my phone, was stolen almost instantly. I reported everything to the police, but they couldn’t do anything - they said around 300 phones disappear there every day. I asked them to file a report, and they asked for my passport. I handed it over, but they couldn’t find Bosnia and Herzegovina in their system. Botswana was there, as was Burkina Faso, but not Bosnia.
Havana: A City That Slowly Disarms You
In Havana, nothing begins abruptly. The city doesn’t hit you with a spectacle, doesn’t try to win you over at first glance. It gives you time. As if it knows you’ll stay a little longer than you planned anyway. You walk without a clear destination and realize that’s the only right way. Streets are not crossed, they are absorbed.
Where to Escape When Everyone Heads to the Sea
As lines of cars move toward the coast every summer, there is another side of travel that does not involve crowds, noise, or the struggle to find a spot on the beach. Instead, it offers silence, nature, and that rare feeling of having space all to yourself.
Ohrid: A Balkan Gem Between History and Nature
Ohrid is a city located in the southwestern part of North Macedonia, on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid. Ohrid and Lake Ohrid are among the country’s main tourist destinations. Due to its large number of churches, the city is often referred to as the “Balkan Jerusalem.”
Islands at the Edge of the World
In an era when even the most remote destinations are just a few clicks and connecting flights away, the idea of places that are truly isolated seems almost unreal. And yet, they exist. These are islands where almost no one lives. Places where the signal fades, crowds don’t exist, and daily life is measured by the rhythm of nature - not the clock.
